Suffering Eternity Together
by Conflict
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke die at the Valley of the End. They find resurrection in perpetuity an experience better suffered together. (Simple snippets)
1. Chapter 1: Death

"You've come to, huh?"

He hears Sasuke grunt in pain.

"As you can see, we'll bleed out and die."

They remained silent for a moment.

"Why go that far?" asks Sasuke. "Why do all of that just to get in my way? Everyone's tried to cut their ties at some point, except for you."

He blinks at the unspoken question of why. "You're my friend."

"What does that mean?"

He couldn't find the words. He didn't understand it either. "When you take on that stuff and get all messed up, it hurts. It hurts so much, I can't leave it alone."

"Hey, Naruto."

The words barely reach him. The darkness around his vision grew.

"I acknowledge you. This is a type of revolution too. They can undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi after I'm dead by transplanting my eye into Kakashi or someone else."

"Idiot."

"Loser."

He wanted to say more, but he can't remember. He barely has enough energy to listen, let alone think and reply.

The world turned black and silent.

* * *

"Regrets?" Did he have any regrets? A lot. None. "One."

He had just gotten through to his best friend.

That he'll never be Hokage bummed him out. His dream dies today, but the world won't end. He had faith in Sakura and Kakashi.

He has accomplished everything he set out to do, right?

Naruto relaxed.

Almost.

"Sasuke."

He had so much more he wanted to say.

Say? Maybe. But not with words. A few at most.

He wanted a fight, a real fight.

Naruto was a simple man. Words aren't simple enough. Limited too. He couldn't put everything he wanted into words. Sasuke wasn't all that talkative either.

So why bother with words?

He thought of only one thing else that allowed people to express themselves better.

* * *

Sasuke awoke to the sight of the stars.

Has it been a day or more?

Death was taking its time, but death will come.

He's bleeding out, crushed by some rocks, in the Valley of the End. It felt fitting somehow.

A dim glow flashes. He turns to his left to see Naruto wide awake. The blond idiot had his hand up, wisps of energy almost invisible between his fingertips.

"Idiot, stop wasting chakra." Naruto always recovered quicker than most. He frowns.

With all his remaining strength, he turns himself over. For a moment, the stump of a right arm screamed in agony as it lay beneath him. His right arm lands on Naruto.

The bleeding blond boy doesn't even grunt in pain. He didn't even wince at the impact nor at his body crushing the boy's own bleeding stump.

Naruto's eye remained at his hands.

"Stop whatever you're doing." It was hard to talk with him now facing the ground. "I will give you chakra." The attempt would be dangerous, but things couldn't get any worse.

Naruto glances at him. "Don't kill yourself to save me."

"I will die."

"I'll chase you again and kick your ass."

"Tch." The loudmouth was stubborn.

Instead of trying to argue, he goes ahead and pushes as much chakra into Naruto. Or he tries to. Nothing happens. Chakra is a mix of spiritual and physical energy. Battered, bruised, bleeding and dying, his body can't channel chakra.

Sasuke glances at Naruto once again. Sasuke smiles. Naruto didn't give up on him. He can't give up either.

Sasuke grits his teeth as he tries once more. Energy tugs in his core. Chakra? No. "Fuck it." He doesn't care anymore. He tries to push all the energy he's got into Naruto.

Naruto glances at him, takes a breath, then nods.

He senses Naruto push energy into him. "You idiot. Just let me-"

His words die on his lips when a flood of emotion rushes through him.

"Ninshu."

Ninjutsu came from connecting spiritual energy to one's own physical energy, chakra. Ninjutsu allowed people great power to fight each other.

Ninshu came from connecting spiritual energies with one another. Ninshu allowed people to understand each other without communication.

Time became meaningless as Naruto and Sasuke shared everything; their thoughts, their memories, their pain, and more, so much more.

Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto. The gesture unnecessary through their new link but one Sasuke still wanted to express. What the blond was trying to do was beyond ridiculous. It was a madness he expected from Orochimaru. No. Even Orochimaru is too sane to even consider it.

Naruto grins and grabs his hand.

Sasuke rolls his eyes but takes his lead.

Though their position was awkward, their index and middle fingers crossed with each other's.

They spent the last of their remaining energies and died.

* * *

Next Chapter: Resurrection


	2. Chapter 2: Resurrection

The first time they returned to life was a doozy. Sharing the same body into a world and having almost no chakra was difficult. The mere act of walking required days of practice. They popped into existence with a hybrid of the clothes and weapons they had before their death. They were better off wearing rags. Neither of them had money. By the time they could hobble around, they were starving.

But they were Naruto and Sasuke. The two most stubborn shinobi to walk the world. They found a way through the wilderness and got picked up by a kind merchant on the way to Konoha. They had many questions, chief among them, why the moon was in pieces.

When they found their way to the Hidden Leaf Village's entrance, all the technological advancements fascinated them. Passers-by, often children, played with devices small enough to carry with one hand but far more advanced than computers they were used to. Behind the Hokage Monument peaked buildings. How far into the future had they been flung to?

Then they saw a giant half-ox half-octopus rise from the forest. "Bee?" What was he doing here? It took a moment to spot a small figure floating high above the transformed jinchūriki. With little chakra to augment their senses, they couldn't keep up with the speed of the battle.

It didn't matter. A flash from a massive explosion was the last thing they saw.

* * *

In their second life, they were separate, and each had the chakra of a genin. It was the only good fortune they would get. Both had a missing arm. They were in a wasteland devoid of life and chakra. When they reached the closest village, all that remained were ruins. Naruto almost broke down right there.

He did break down when they learned what happened.

Toneri Ōtsutsuki had tried to wipe all life on the Elemental Nations. The Cloud Village blew up the moon with a device made to prevent another attempt at the Infinite Tsukuyomi. They were still of no match against the Ōtsutsuki. Still, the eventual conquest was a better alternative to annihilation.

Not that it mattered.

Years later, more Ōtsutsuki arrived, defeated Toneri, collected the tailed beasts and summoned a God Tree.

Their world is dead.

All the fighting. All they accomplished. The struggle they went through, gone.

Grief turned to anger. The two of them would find the bastards that killed everyone and fight them.

It was a suicide mission, they didn't care.

Once again, fate laughed at them.

Before they could even leave the village, Sasuke popped into smoke. Naruto fell to his knees, alone.

A day later, he too popped from existence.

* * *

Their next resurrection, they did nothing. There was nothing.

* * *

As soon as their sixth life began, Sasuke asked, "How do we die, for good?"

Naruto's didn't have an answer. His gamble for bringing them back to life had drawn inspiration from the Shadow Clone Technique, the tailed beasts, and Sage Mode.

What they did was create a sort of shadow clones of themselves.

The hard parts were the lack of chakra before they died and maintaining the 'clone' without a body. Most ninja techniques ended when the user died.

The tailed beasts were the nine titanic living forms of chakra. When a tail beast died, they reformed. So there was a precedent for a chakra construct not needing a living body to maintain itself.

Their lack of chakra was because of their dying bodies. They had a lot of spiritual energy. Spiritual energy came from the mind's consciousness. Physical energy came from every one of the body's cells. It was why they could perform ninshū but not ninjutsu.

The greatest leap of logic, and that was saying something, was using the world's energy instead of their bodies' physical energy.

It was stupid.

It was crazy.

Somehow, it worked.

Now they wanted to undo it.

* * *

They stopped counting their return to the world around the time they concluded their technique should have stopped working long ago.

They connected spiritual energy to the world's energy, likely nature chakra. The God Tree already took all the world's energy.

It's possible their 'clones' had used the leftovers, but there are none left by now.

And yet, every time they came back to life, they kept starting out with more and more chakra. They couldn't recover chakra and poofed out of existence as their reserves hit zero, but they lasted longer and longer.

If Sasuke still had Hagoromo's gift, they could at least hop dimensions in search of Ōtsutsuki to kill. Or at least, they could try a change of scenery.

* * *

At some point, the frustration building up exploded. Sasuke blamed Naruto for their hell. They fought, they died.

* * *

Sasuke returned to the world alone.

It only took a day for him to change his mind.

This is hell.

* * *

After the worst life, he had to live through so far, seeing Naruto in the next one had him in crying tears of joy and relief.

It confused Naruto at first, then he listened to Sasuke's anguish.

He hated that he wasn't there for Sasuke.

The worst was yet to come.

* * *

The first time it happened they panicked.

They sparred for the lack of anything better to do when Sasuke cut Naruto.

He didn't pop.

It happened. The wound bled, then healed.

"Fuck."

"Maybe it's just our chakra being dense enough for tougher clones."

It made sense, more chakra meant tougher clones. But they feared the alternative.

Any alternative.

This was new.

They didn't know what could happen next.

"Maybe this means we'll be real enough to die."

Or maybe…

They didn't even know.

And not knowing scared them most of all.

* * *

Next Chapter: New Worlds


	3. Chapter 3: New Worlds

They stared at their corpses from their previous life.

"Weird."

"Get over it. This just confirms what we already knew."

Naruto grimaces.

They had been generating chakra for a few lives now. It was a feat impossible for chakra constructs. Sure, you could pour more chakra into a clone to restore its reserves, but the clones themselves couldn't make more chakra.

Worse than that, shinobi didn't make chakra from nothing. They had to eat and rest just to live.

The world was a wasteland. There was nothing to eat. There wasn't even nature energy to draw. Even if half of its mass wasn't missing from them killing each other, the planet was dead.

This went against chakra theory. Beyond that, it went against everything that Sasuke knew of the laws of nature.

Sasuke held out a fist to Naruto. Naruto grunted but bumped his own fist to Sasuke's. Through ninshū, they could pass information between each other. It also helped stop them from blaming each other for their predicament. There was resentment there, but they both understood that they blamed themselves more.

"You know what makes the least sense?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he already knew what he would already ask.

"We both still have an arm missing."

Sasuke raised a brow and with his Rinnegan created a mechanical arm.

"You know what I mean." Naruto himself tears his stump of a right arm from the shoulder. Within less than a second later, he regenerates a full arm.

Sasuke sighs.

"Yeah, yeah."

Sasuke opens a portal and walks into it. Naruto follows behind him.

* * *

The novelty of hopping worlds died after the second one. It surprised them how little leaving their desolate world lifted their moods. No matter what world they went to, it all felt empty.

* * *

Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, a name they were sure they'd soon forget. They don't even remember his companion. Aside from the initial shock of having their attacks returned ten fold, the fight was quick and easy.

"Now what?"

Sasuke didn't have an answer.

* * *

More Ōtsutsuki died by their hands. They didn't bother counting how many. No number of them gave them anything they would call a fight.

* * *

Trial and error was a tedious process.

They had an eternity and nothing better to do.

It was inevitable they'd stumble upon creating a portal to a world farther than any he had made so far. They could have made this much sooner, but Sasuke didn't want to believe Naruto's "plan" of shoving more chakra into it would work.

Dimensional traversal should be much too complex a concept to have such a simple solution.

Naruto gives him a shrug and leaps in.

Sasuke sighs and follows him.

* * *

They fell into the dimensional gap.

The void erased them bit by bit. Even they who sought death, an end to their eternity, feared the void that surrounded them. Oblivion. A simple concept. The word was far too mundane for its reality.

Deep within their core, a primal fear screamed.

In the swirl of chaos where even time did not exist, they disintegrated.

* * *

Not even the oblivion could end them.

They didn't escape the void whole. They lost something from the journey, but they did not understand what. Not that they had much time to process that thought.

The moment they entered a new world, everything exploded.

Everything.

Turns out new laws of physics interacting with matter and energy that didn't obey its laws had unforeseeable consequences.

* * *

Trial and error with eternity.

They awoke in nothingness, their forms adhering to the something passable in this reality.

Trial and error, trial and error.

* * *

They had annihilated several universes before they braved sending only their souls through the portal.

Turned out, boredom trumped the primal fear of utter oblivion.

Oh, it scared them like hell.

But as they were learning, everything is relative.

* * *

Rebirth was an interesting experience.

They had lived the first quarter of their new lives before they regained their memories bit by bit. They wished they hadn't been reborn as trees, but it was at least something new.

That novelty lasted a week for Sasuke and a day for Naruto.

* * *

The meteor that killed all life on that planet must have been tragic for whatever life that lived there. Naruto and Sasuke thanked every god they're sure don't exist for their death. Turned out, even as trees they were the most badass things in the world because nothing else seemed able to kill them.

* * *

Many rebirths later, most of which were plant life or protozoa, they got a body larger than a fist. Together shelled rat Naruto had and the slug Sasuke had enough chakra to create a new portal.

Yes, such portals took a lot of chakra. Turns out, having their souls leaping through a multiple of the early life on the planet influenced evolution there. Who knew?

* * *

By their third rebirth, they could pick their host bodies.

By their seventeenth, Sasuke could make sure the world they jumped into had humanoid life.

One hundred and eight rebirths later they had their first human host.

* * *

Next Chapter: Humans


	4. Chapter 4: Humans

Neither Naruto nor Sasuke could remember the first four years of their new lives. It took another four years for them to regain enough bits and pieces of their memories for it to be coherent. Being reborn as twins was a novel experience.

"I guess we are brothers in more than spirit now, eh Sasha?"

The raven-haired kid glared at him. "Shut up, Naruto."

Naruto grinned. Sasuke, now Sasha, was still sensitive about his new name.

It turned out, placing their souls into otherwise doomed embryos had influenced their mother. Naruto felt somewhat guilty that his blonde hair had caused suspicion of unfaithfulness to his new mother, but it turned out well. They were miracles. Their father lost hope having any children years ago. Having two sons was the greatest joy of his life.

Sasha crossed his arms and pouted.

Naruto laughed. Despite regaining their memories, their bodies were still that of children. Sasha had once explained to him that behaviors and attitudes weren't a case of experience and memories but also the physical state of the body.

"You!" Sasha leaped at Naruto and wrestled him to the ground.

Naruto didn't stop laughing.

Sasha soon joined him.

It felt nice being children again.

* * *

It sucked being children again. School was boring. Naruto would have preferred doing chores. He's sure Sasha agreed. Sasha insisted they needed to regardless. As much as Naruto wanted to disagree, it wasn't as if their ninja training was of any help in this world. They didn't even have chakra.

What would they need math for anyway?

* * *

Carpentry had a surprising amount of algebra. It shouldn't have been that surprising Sasha told him. He disagreed.

It was a job he fumbled his way into. He was good with his hands, and he liked to keep busy. Somewhere along the way, he became a carpenter. Although, he did a little bit of everything.

It wasn't as profitable as Sasha's military career, but it paid well enough for Naruto. He didn't need much for himself. More importantly, in this new world, he had an opportunity to help people with no need to spill a single drop of blood. He still enjoyed fighting, too much he realized, but he enjoyed building things up too.

He frowned, remembering his mother's words of worry for his health. There might be no war at the moment, but his brother's job was still

With a nod, he promised himself no more bar fights.

* * *

He met Tanya in a bar fight. It was love the moment she punched his face.

So here he was now, sweating through his best shirt as he introduced himself to her parents. He now felt bad for making fun of her own fears when she met his own.

But beneath the fear, there was also warmth. He had introduced her to his parents. It was something impossible for his old life.

He didn't simply feel happy. He was content.

And also, scared the fuck out of his mind.

* * *

It scared the fuck out his mind. Sasha had told him to calm down for the sixteenth time now, but he still paced back and forth in the hallway.

He was going to be a father.

* * *

He was going to be an uncle.

Sasha had somehow knocked a girl up overseas.

Their father was furious. Their mother more so.

Both gave him permission to knock sense into his brother.

His wife helped.

* * *

His wife laid beside him, asleep.

She didn't have as much energy as she used to. Neither did he. Old age did that.

He will die today. Somehow, he could just feel it. Or maybe it was the ghost of Sasuke standing right beside him that told him that. The apparition of the one-armed, teen with mismatched eyes smiled at him.

It was comforting to know his brother was still with him. It also caused his heart to ache in realization. He wouldn't be able to be with his wife in this world's afterlife. His now considerably large family will eventually die, and he will live.

"What have we become?"

Sasuke holds his hand. "Does it hurt?"

Naruto's eyes water and he nods.

"Then we're human."

Naruto laughs.

* * *

Next Chapter: Love


	5. Chapter 5: Love

Their next life had been mundane. Unable to share the same womb, they were cousins this time. Sasuke was more than a year older. They couldn't meet as often as they were used to, but neither complained. They both needed space.

But Naruto couldn't hide from the world for long. When he was 18, he met someone. They were married by 19 and had five kids by 25.

Sasuke remained a bachelor.

Time passed by too quickly. Sasuke died by 65, Naruto by 78.

* * *

In their life after that, Sasuke asked the question.

"Do you remember Tanya?"

"Yes."

"What about Kiyoko?"

Naruto frowned. "Your wife?"

"You don't remember do you?"

"I guessed."

Silence.

"What about your latest wife?"

Silence.

"Your sons and daughters?

Silence.

"Your fathers and mothers."

"Minato, Kushina, then…" Then who?

"I remember many people from the Elemental Nations. I only remember Kiyoko and Umeko as my wives, and Itachi and Hitoshi as my firstborn sons."

Silence.

* * *

Naruto stared at the love of his life in this life sleeping next to him.

How many wives has he had?

Will he remember her?

He remembers emotions. He knows he was happy with every spouse he's had. The relationships weren't perfect, but love was stronger. The loss was stronger too. There was one life where he didn't have a wife, but that might be because he died early. War did that.

He tried to memorize Rosmira's blonde hair, the green eyes hidden behind her sleeping eyelids, the stern look she gave him whenever he got in trouble.

Had he done this with his other wives?

He must have. He would remember if he did, right?

* * *

Naruto stared at the love of his life in this life sleeping next to him.

How many wives has he had?

Will he remember her?

He tried to memorize Kyley red hair, the grey eyes hidden behind her sleeping eyelids, the way she laughed whenever he got in trouble.

Had he done this with his other wives?

He must have. He would remember if he did, right?

* * *

Next Chapter: Gods


	6. Chapter 6: God-Kings

Naruto stared and Sasuke.

Sasuke stared at Naruto...

... with his Sharingan.

It only had one tomoe, but it was the Sharingan.

"Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It's a thing. You have chakra too."

"I know, but the Sharingan is different."

"Not that much."

"You shouldn't be Uchiha enough to have the Sharingan. I'm sure our blood tests would say you're still the son of our dad and your mom." Yeah, their father was a two-timing bastard in this world.

"You have yellow hair and blue eyes. And you have chakra."

"Sure but, chakra coils and stuff just make the mixing of physical energy and spiritual energy easier."

Sasuke raised a brow.

"I'm not stupid!"

"I suppose even an idiot has moments of brilliance once every lifetime."

"Whatever. So, Sharingan, Chakra. Is this good or not?"

Sasuke grimaced. "It's power." A power that did not exist in this world. A power that had no equivalent in this world.

"The power to help people is good, right?"

Yes. It that was how he imagined Naruto would see it.

He wasn't sure that was a good thing.

* * *

It wasn't a good thing, Sasuke decided. Despite his warnings to stay low, Naruto couldn't stop helping if he could.

Stopping a few muggings here and there was already risky in a world where everyone carried a recording and communication device. Fighting a war was beyond stupid, especially when Naruto insisted in trying to avoid killing the other side.

It wasn't as if Naruto did anything that placed his countrymen in any danger. Chakra was too large an advantage. Any battle with Naruto in it was a guaranteed victory. Then again, perhaps the biggest miracle was Naruto passing the military as a soldier.

Sasuke didn't bother joining the military. With Chakra, he could stay invisible to the world through genjutsu.

It didn't take long for people to notice how good fortune and success followed Naruto. Soon, the blonde became the nation's poster boy. There wasn't a corner where that goofy grin wasn't present. Soon, Naruto spent almost as much time doing interviews as he did in the "front lines".

It seemed victory was just beyond the horizon.

Except, it was **always **_just _beyond the horizon.

Why stop when you keep winning, after all? With every near defeat turning into triumph, with every miracle of the battlefield, with every mile their border grew? Weren't these signs of divine favor? Their cause was righteous and their methods justified.

* * *

Naruto wasn't a total idiot, Sasuke amended.

Far from an unwitting pawn, he had used his rise through the ranks and his fame to advocate for peace.

More dangerously, he advocated for change.

At first, they encouraged his words. The optimism in his message was great for morale and publicity. Later, some became wary of his ambition, but complacency had convinced them the man had no bite to his bark, that his passion was mere naivete and hope.

Few expected his dive into the sea of politics. None were ready for him to take to the water like a shark that tasted blood.

Their war hero had become the head of state in a blink of an eye.

In four short years, the republic had become an empire, to thunderous applause.

The nation prospered under him, as did his allies. None of his enemies could touch him. In time, many joined his side.

Peace and prosperity.

* * *

Peace and prosperity aren't endpoints. They aren't goals to reach in the same way victory or conquest are.

Peace required maintenance, ever constant, ever vigilant. Progress never had a cap. There was always more to improve, more to gain, more to build.

* * *

As their world empire grew and developed, it asked more and more from its golden king. His shadow warned him, he agreed, but inevitability was upon them.

For him to leave now would leave a gap too large for any human to fill.

Do nothing, and at its current pace, the empire would buckle under its own weight and create cracks for evils to seep through. A slow and insidious demise.

To do more would require Naruto to perform miracles that people could no longer ignore or excuse.

* * *

They compromised.

Over the years, they rebuilt the system, taking power away from the king, bringing it down to government officials who called themselves nobles.

Instating a democracy felt foreign to the two shinobi whose first lives where individual power was an important criterion as a candidate for a ruler. Without the ability to ensure the benevolence of a dictator, it was their best alternative.

* * *

It took forever. Every little flaw in their system always had someone take advantage of it, forcing Naruto to delay his resignation as they worked to correct the system.

Naruto could barely balance the facade of being old—and mortal—yet still being capable of ruling the world.

Perfection would never come, and they had to settle for good enough.

Naruto retired and "died" a few weeks later.

* * *

Despite their extended lifespans, these bodies weren't immortal. Where Naruto had once pretended the pains of old age, the creaks of his bones and fog in his mind were now a reality. Sasuke fared better but not by much.

They could do no more for this world.

A world already hearing whispers of war.

"At least it'll be quick."

With the current technological progress of the world, no war will last a year.

Naruto chuckled a dry miserable laugh. Their peace did not even last a century.

And he couldn't help but wonder a miserable thought.

If they had survived their clash at the Valley of the End and he had become Hokage, how long would his peace have lasted?

Doubt.

"Maybe you were right, Sasuke?"

"About what?"

Naruto didn't answer. His mind no longer present, once again adrift in the stormy ocean of his own thoughts.

Inevitability was upon them.


End file.
